Why Lotus is ready to win

Lotus didn't fulfil its potential in the opening races of the 2012 Formula 1 season, but its Bahrain charge showed what it could do - and as its top brass told Adam Cooper, there's a lot more to come

Whether Lotus can maintain its victory-challenging Bahrain Grand Prix form to become a true contender at the front in Formula 1 is one of the fascinating aspects of the 2012 season as the teams head to Europe.

Kimi Raikkonen and Romain Grosjean finished second and third at Sakhir, leaving McLaren, Mercedes and Ferrari in their wake. Over the three races before Bahrain, the closest a Lotus had been to a race winner was in Malaysia, where Raikkonen finished 29.5 seconds behind Fernando Alonso. So the Middle-East race really was a step forward.